Mix all ingredients except blueberries in saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and cover pot. Simmer for 30 minutes. Do not lift the lid! Turn heat off and leave covered for 10 minutes. Stir in blueberries, cover again, and leave for 5 minutes. Stir once more and serve!

Again, this makes enough for our family of two adults and two children. My daughter really likes this with crushed walnuts sprinkled on the top. Another option is to leave out the blueberries and instead fry some thinly sliced apples in coconut oil with a bit of cinnamon. After the porridge has cooked just serve the apples on top.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

This has become one of our favourite breakfast dishes. Who doesn't like cake for breakfast? This does include oats which a lot of people who have issues with gluten need to avoid. We stayed away from oats for about two years before trying them again. Thankfully, they don't seem to bother us any more. That's a good thing because they are cheap!

My recipe is based off a recipe I found in a cookbook that my home church put together. I love looking through that book and seeing names of so many people that have influenced my life. The lady that submitted the original recipe for this was one of my teachers in Sparkies - a Bible club for kids. That programme helped me learn many Bible verses as a small child.

Ingredients

1/2 cup oil

1/3 cup sweetener of choice (honey, coconut sugar, brown sugar, etc.)

2 large eggs

2 + 1/2 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup finely shredded coconut

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup coconut cream

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup frozen blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 180℃ (350℉).

Combine oil, sugar, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Stir well.

Add remaining ingredients, except blueberries. Mix thoroughly.

Fold in blueberries.

Pour into a lightly greased 9x9 inch baking dish.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

We cut this into 6 pieces and it feeds our family of two adults and two children. The cake can be crumbly, so for our 18 month old son we serve it in a bowl with a bit of milk poured over the top. It's less messy for him that way.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Why another food blog? I'm glad you asked. Here is our story. Four years ago we started a food journey with our family. Our daughter, who was 17 months old at the time, had severe eczema and stomach issues. She had suffered like this since she was 5 weeks old. We kept going to our doctor for help with the eczema and each time we were given a different steroid cream to help. The cream would work for a few weeks and then her skin would flair up again with the eczema and we would have to go back for a stronger cream. The cycle just kept repeating itself so we decided that something had to change.

So what to do? Google it of course! We began researching about her skin and stomach problems and found that the problem started on the inside of her body. The flare-ups on her skin were an indication of what was going on inside her body. The only way to heal her skin was to heal her body from the inside. The best way to do this was to find out what she was eating that was triggering these flare-ups. Our doctor told us that she was too young for allergy testing so we then began researching other ways to find out what she was reacting to.

The solution for us was an elimination diet. Simply put, you eat very basic food (think white, non-processed food like chicken, rice, cauliflower, pears, etc.) for a few weeks and then you slowly add things back in to find out what is causing the problems. The whole process takes a couple of months.

After the first week we noticed improvements in her skin and stomach issues. In the end we found out the foods she has to avoid are: dairy, gluten, bananas, strawberries, and citrus (except lemons). Now there was just one question, "What do I feed my child?"

So began our journey. A year later I experienced some health issues of my own and found I needed to stop eating gluten. In January 2014 our son was born and he too has eczema and stomach problems. We haven't figured out everything he needs to avoid, but so far he does best if he stays away from: gluten, dairy, bananas, citrus, and nightshade vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum). For myself I am now avoiding gluten, dairy, and sugar.

Our health is improving, but we are still have a way to go on this journey. This blog is a way for me to record the recipes that we are using. Most of our recipes I find on Pinterest and then tweak them to fit our family's needs. Some recipes are old favourites that I've altered to suit us. Enjoy!

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Who Am I?

Hello! Thank you for stopping by! My name is Beth and this blog is a result of our family's food journey over the last few years. Nearly all the recipes you will find on this blog are gluten free and dairy free. I have always loved to cook and over the last few years I've had to learn to cook again for my family's needs. I don't have a massive kitchen filled with all the latest and greatest cooking gadgets so most of the recipes use basic kitchen utensils. I don't have a big grocery budget so most of the recipes don't use expensive ingredients, either. Come along and join us on our journey!